Hanging around with the PGA Pros…

This morning, the winds were gone, and the sun looked like it was ready to shine again, so Judy and I decided to head into La Quinta, and attend the Humana Golf Challenge, which of course was formerly known as the Bob Hope Desert Classic.  This is the first year for the name change.

This is the big Humana sign that greets you, as you enter the PGA West Course, in La Quinta.

Humana is the big new Corporate Sponsor of this Tournament, along with the Clinton Foundation!  Remember, back in November, Judy and I visited Little Rock, Arkansas, and visited the President Clinton Presidential Library.

This is the path of entrance into the Course… the grounds are simply beautiful!

 

After we got into the Tournament, Judy and I walked around some of the displays, and driving range where the Pro’s were warming up, and then we headed over to the number 1 Tee.  We watched at around 11:30 this morning as some groups of the Pro’s teed off.  Then to my surprise, who walks out on the first Tee, no more than 20 feet from me…. yup, President Bill Clinton!   I just about s_ _ _ my you know what's!    I have never seen a President of the United States in Person before, let alone, be 5 feet from him!  This reminded me of Canada Day in Ottawa, a number of years back, when I was 5 feet away from Prime Minister Paul Martin.  President Clinton was larger than life.  He was shaking hands, (but not mine… ) and talking to the crowd after the golfers had teed off.  Some one yelled to him, “Hey Bill, you should run for President!”.  His answer… “ I would, but there is a problem with the Constitution!  It would take all you people to do something about it!”   It was sure great to be so close to the “Leader of the free world”!  I would have taken a picture of President Clinton, but I did not want to have to give up my smart phone…  The stock picture below will have to do for now!

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Judy and I decided after seeing the President, that we better have lunch and then watch some golf!  We noticed that one of Palm Springs better restaurants had a booth at the food court, so we went to Sherman’s Deli for lunch!  It was amazing… I had the brisket sandwich on sour dough and it was to die for!   Met a nice couple from northern BC who shared our table… more on this couple later in the post.

This picture below is walking up the 18 hole, towards the Clubhouse… what a view… Judy was totally amazed at the views on this course… it is spectacular for sure!

This pic below is taken along the 9th fairway on the course, and again, the views are terrific… what a beautiful day for golf!

Here is another cool thing about this course… it is lined by beautiful homes… the couple from BC, went through an open house on the course yesterday, and they told us the prices of the homes are around $425 to $450 thousand… not much if you say it fast!  Next, you have to pay $125,000.00 for a golf membership, (augh… no problem…) and then you have to pay about $1,200 a month to golf!  Piece of cake! 

We got to follow the Pro’s, as they made their way around the course… Judy was amazed at how close we could get to the actual game being played!  It is just like the seat against the glass at a hockey game, or on the sideline at a football game!  You are RIGHT there, and can hear the players talk to each other! 

Now here was the bonus to the whole day!  This is the first time we have ever saw Big Horned Sheep in the wild!  We have looked for 3 years now, and had to come here, to finally find them!   Check it out… there was 8 of them!

They were munching on the grass today, like they do this everyday… ya, they probably do!  We were right against the mountain, so they just came down and started eating… the Pro’s walked right by them and did not even look at them!  Go figure!  Got their game face on! 

Judy and I watched a lot of the golf on hole 17, which is a very difficult par 3.  It was great, as they had a grand stand we could sit in, where we could see the tee off onto the green.

One player scored a hole in one today here, on this 200 yard Par 3!  Just not when we were there!  

This view below is again on the 18 hole, which was an amazing view.  The winner was Mark Wilson, who shot a –24 under Par… Simply amazing! 

Overall, it was a great day… we enjoyed every minute, even if they treat those players like Prima Dona’s… and they do! 

This is the first PGA event we have ever attended, and we just enjoyed walking around seeing the sights more than anything else… just like going on a hike for the day! 

Till tomorrow…